Oh man was I sore the next morning. I could barely move when I woke up. Every muscle in my body was tight and throbbing at the same time. It certainly reminded me to never go skiing again. I guess if I ever had to again I will just stick to the bunny hill. No more going up levels for me. Casey instantly knew something was wrong when she woke up. It was probably the grimacing I had on my face with every move I made. She crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom. She came out with a glass of water, some pills and a bottle of lotion. The pills were some sort of pain reliever that she had me take. She then told me to roll over on my stomach so she could give me a massage and try to loosen some of the muscles. Getting into the position was hell but once she put the lotion on my back and began rubbing her warm hands around my muscles I was in heaven. My god that girl knew just the right places to touch and rub. Now I've had some massages in my day, some even with happy endings when they were done. But none of those could even compare to the feeling I got knowing that the woman I was so deeply and madly in love with was the one making me feel better. And I didn't even need the happy ending when she was done. Even though I probably would not have objected to it if she had offered.

About an hour later we were off to our final destination: Arcata, California. It was Christmas Eve so the roads were a little more crowded than they had been with all of the holiday travelers. Casey had fallen asleep for most of the ride. I'm not sure why she was so tired but I just let her sleep, even though the silence drove me insane. I caught my hand reaching for the radio a few different times to turn it on and I believe at one point I began to hum to myself just to have some sort of noise.

Casey woke up when we were minutes away from my parent's house.

"Where are we at?" she asked stretching her arms into the air.

"Just a couple minutes away," I replied.

"Whoa, did I really sleep that long?" she asked.

"Yeah, and I was completely bored out of my mind thanks to that," I replied.

"Sorry babe," she replied pulling down the visor and checking herself in the mirror.

"You look beautiful," I said. "And you have nothing to worry about. It's just my parents."

Casey ignored my comments and pulled a compact out of her purse and began to touch up her make-up. A few minutes later we arrived at the house and I pulled into the driveway. It was a small house but just the right size for me and my parents.

Casey and I exited the car and made our way to the front door. Before I could even knock my mom swung open the door and launched herself at me.

"Oh Cappie you're home!" she exclaimed.

"Hi mom," I stated as I wrapped my arms around her for a hug.

"How was your trip?" she asked as she backed away.

"It's been pretty great," I replied looking at Casey and smiling. "Oh, mom, this is Casey. Casey this is April, my mom."

"Nice to meet you April," said Casey shaking her hand.

"Oh please darling, with as much as Cappie talks about you I feel you're like my long lost daughter. Please, call me mom."

My mom let go of Casey's hand and gave her a hug instead. I could tell Casey was a little shocked at the gesture but she handled it well.

"Where's dad?" I asked as we entered the house.

"Oh one of his friends picked him up and they ran into town for a few groceries. He should be back soon."

Casey and I sat in the kitchen and chatted briefly with mom. She then began making dinner and told us to go ahead and bring our bags in and get settled. My room was in the basement. I pretty much had my own little apartment down there with a bedroom, bathroom and living area with a couch and TV.

"I like your room," I heard Casey say as I observed her looking around my room.

"It's not much," I replied.

Something caught Casey's eye and she walked over to the nightstand next to my bed.

"I can't believe you still have this picture," she said as she picked it up and sat on the edge of the bed.

I went over and sat next to her, not really sure what picture she was talking about. But I was quickly reminded when I looked down at the picture of her, Evan and me from freshman year.

"You know for the longest time I folded you out of the picture," she said. "So it just showed Evan and I when it hung on my memo board."

"Why did you cut me out?" I asked somewhat hurt.

"Because I loved the picture," she replied. "But once everything happened and the three of us weren't friends anymore it seemed kind of inappropriate to display the full picture."

"Oh," I said taking the picture out of her hands. "I guess I don't blame you. I could easily take a pair of scissors right now and cut Evan off the picture."

"No sense ruining it," she said turning to me. "You never know what can happen in the future. You two could meet up at a Greek reunion when you're forty and make up."

"I highly doubt it," I said putting the picture in the nightstand drawer out of sight.

"Cap, are you down here?" I heard my dad call from upstairs.

"Yeah dad," I replied as I heard my dad come down the stairs.

"Hey son," he said as I stood up and gave him a hug. "How have you been?"

"Great," I replied.

My dad looked over my shoulder at Casey sitting on the bed.

"Dad this is Casey," I said as she stood up and walked over towards us.

"Nice to meet you," she said shaking his hand.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," my dad replied. "We have just heard so much about you. It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

I felt myself blushing at my dad's comment and knew I had to get him back upstairs before he said anything else I might regret.

"We'll be up in a few minutes dad," I said trying to get him to take the hint. "I'm sure dinner is almost ready."

"OK, I'll meet you guys up there," he said as he turned and walked back up the stairs.

"So it looks like someone talks about me a lot," Casey said once my dad closed the door to the stairway.

"They're making it out to be a bigger deal than it is," I replied. "So what if I like to talk about you? You are my girlfriend you know."

"Only for three weeks," she said with a smile. "And I get the feeling they have been hearing about me for more than just three weeks."

"I guess it's hard not to talk about the woman you love," I smiled back at her as I walked up and put my arms around her waist.

"I can live with that answer," she replied as the two of us kissed.

The rest of the night ended up being pretty busy for the two of us. Casey had her first vegetarian dinner and seemed to enjoy it. The conversation at the dinner table was never dull as we found plenty of things to talk about. I caught myself during dinner just staring at Casey a few times. It was amazing how well she got along with my parents and they seemed to love her just as much.

After dinner we decided to play some games and I was quickly ganged up on by my parents and my girlfriend. All three of them knew my secrets to cheating and made sure I couldn't use any of them during the game. Needless to say I lost pretty badly. But I would lose silly games any day if it meant the three most important people in my life were laughing and having a good time at my expense. My dad has always been an early riser in the mornings so he went to bed first that night. Mom made the three of us some hot chocolate and we sat around the kitchen table and talked a little more while we drank the hot chocolate. Soon Casey began to yawn and excused herself to go to bed. I wanted to join her but I also wanted to get a little one on one time with my mom. And come to think of it, I think Casey knew that. She had slept most of the day in the car so I'm pretty sure she wasn't as tired as she made it out to be. I smiled on the inside as I realized we were really in sync with each other.

"Casey is such a lovely girl Cap," my mom said as she washed out the mugs we were using.

"Yeah, she's pretty amazing," I replied with a smile.

"I'm just so happy to see that you're so happy Cappie," she said as she sat next to me at the kitchen table. "I don't think I have ever seen a glow to your face like you have on it now."

"There is just something about her mom. I love her and I would do anything for her."

"Have you two talked about the future at all?" my mom asked. "I know school-wise you're still not sure what you want to do."

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure that's going to have to be a road we're going to cross in the future," I replied with a sigh. "Casey thinks about the future a lot. She has a major but I still don't think she knows quite what she wants to do after graduation."

"So she's going to graduate after next semester?"

"Yeah," I replied with another sigh. "Something that I will certainly not be doing."

"Now I know you're a very smart guy Cap. I think if you really buckled down you could end up graduating next semester."

"I know," I replied. "I just think if I did that then I would be changing for her and I'm not sure I want to do that. She should accept and love me for who I am right now. Even if that means I'll be at CRU for another year or two."

"And do you think she accepts you for who you are now?" my mom asked.

I thought about what she asked for a second and thought back to our conversation at the Grand Canyon. Casey said when she looked into her future she wasn't sure of much. But the one thing she was sure of was that I would be there.

"I'm sure she does," I said confidently.

"That's great sweetheart," my mom said putting her hand on top of mine. "I think it's probably time I head off to bed now."

"Hey mom," I stopped her from standing up.

She looked at me intently.

"I think I want to ask Casey to marry me."

I couldn't believe I had blurted out such a thing to my mother. But I always trusted my mother's advice and opinions. And I knew she would tell me the truth, whether she thought I was crazy or not.

"Isn't there some sort of pre-engagement things you guys do with Greek life before getting engaged?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "But Casey has already had that by two different guys. I want to be different. I want to show her that I mean forever with her."

"Engagement is a pretty big step in a relationship that's only been three weeks sweetheart. Plus diamond rings are not cheap."

"I actually already have a ring," I stated.

My mom looked at me confused so I went ahead and told her everything that happened in Las Vegas and the fact that Casey and I actually did almost get married. I watched her expression the entire time I told the story and I was really surprised to not see any disappointment on her face. She mostly had a softness to her face like she understood everything that happened in Vegas.

"Vegas always brings the craziness out in people," she commented. "But I guess given everything that happened there I would say maybe you two are more towards that part of your relationship than I thought."

"I don't know mom, I'm confused," I said. "It's crazy to think about doing something like that after just a month of dating."

"You said it yourself Cap, it's like the two of you have been dating since you were freshman," my mom replied.

I just sighed and shook my head, still torn with my decision.

"I'm going to bed now honey," she said taking my hand. "But just know that whatever you decide, you have my blessing. I would welcome Casey into the family with open arms. She's the one for you. Momma knows."

I smiled at her as she leaned down and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Good night mom," I said.

"Good night sweetheart," she replied walking out of the kitchen.

A/N: Sorry the posting was a little late tonight. I hope there are still people out there reading this....LoL....I thought I would get a lot more reviews after posting the Vegas chapters but I only got a couple :0(

Anyway, this story will be wrapped up by the end of the week. Thanks for reading!